PHL Inks Air Pact with Rwanda

The Philippines has upped its air connectivity options in Africa with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Rwanda today, 25 July 2019.

After two days of negotiations, the Philippine Air Negotiation Panel led by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) inked the MOU, which contains the text of an Air Service Agreement (ASA) at the Marriott Hotel in Resorts World Manila.

The ASA is the country’s first bilateral agreement with the progressive Central/East African state, and the fifth air pact with a nation on the African mainland, after Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Africa.

It grants seven (7) weekly frequencies for the designated airlines of both contracting parties, and allows pure cargo operations of up to 400 tons per week.

The agreement also allows designated airlines to market services on third-country carriers, for as long as the latter have the appropriate route rights and are registered to a state that allows such operations.

Chaired by Undersecretary Jose Eduardo Malaya of the DFA’s Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs (OTLA), the Air Panel includes Transportation Undersecretary Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo, Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras, Tourism Undersecretary Edwin Enrile, Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla, OTLA Executive Director Igor Bailen, and Trade and Industry Director Joan Karen Riola, as members.  (DOTR PR)